Blind as a Bat
by LoreilDarksky00
Summary: Dia has been experimented on all her life, on Gaia. When scientists force her to bring keyblade wielders from another world, she blames herself. But is rescue on the way? They can only hope.
1. Chapter 1

Damn. No airflow.

Another dead end.

Panting heavily, she whirled, and ran back and went down what she hoped was the other hallway.

Step after step of painful running, trying desperately to find the way out as fast as possible without running into a wall; and failure was _not_ an option.

White hair streamed behind her as she ricocheted off the wall and finally burst out the exit, and fell to the floor, exhausted.

As she let herself be dragged off to the next experiment, she cursed—yet again—her twisted fate.

Would she ever be free again?

_Not that I'd be able to go anywhere or do anything,_ she thought bitterly. They would find her, like before. And she would never be able to escape.

XxXx~~~xXxX

"Alright guys, let's go."

The quiet command was filled with reassurance towards a few particular members of the large group.

Yuffie, trying hard to hide her anxiety, snorted. "Finally…"

Vincent rested his human hand on her shoulder, and she jumped. Turning her head to look at him, she smiled sheepishly.

They clambered into the multiple choppers—courtesy of Reeve—and started them up. Over the intercom-like system that had been installed in everyone's headsets, Cloud gave a few last minute reminders.

Tifa looked out the window of the chopper, not really registering what she saw. She felt sick.

This was the third mission of this nature.

Apparently, Hojo had left many of his experiment ideas with others who were just as horrid as he was. The newly reformed Shinra and the WRO were just now figuring out where these people were and cracking down on them.

All the members of AVALANCHE had been called in to help. They'd successfully secured two of the three bases. Tifa remembered all the experiments—children—that they'd freed and sent off to 'foster families'. She tried not to, because half of them died from the aftereffects of being experimented on.

She couldn't help but close her eyes, attempting to hide her tears for them. Tears wouldn't help them, or the experiments that her group was on their way to save now.


	2. Chapter 2

She felt a blast of cold air as they thrust her ahead of them into another room, rather large if it was to be judged by the echoes.

Rough hands shoved her harshly into a metal chair and began strapping her arms down, and her ankles. Wires and needles were attached to her. She could feel her face pale as she realized what experiment they were starting.

And she dreaded what she was about to be forced to do.

She squeezed her eyes shut, even though it made no difference to her. The hum of the machines around her starting up made her tremble.

She jerked as she felt the electricity flowing through her—courtesy of the wires—and she shuddered as her power was cruelly twisted around, the limiters released, and pulled out of her, yanked through various machines.

Vainly trying to stop it, she let tears flow and whispered her apology to the beings she was forcibly taking from their home-world.

Crackling was heard, and then a loud _zap_, followed by shocked and terrified voices. She couldn't tell if they were young or old by just hearing shouts, but there were two boys and a girl.

She tries hard not to faint, but it was inevitable.

Inevitable that she abandoned them to their inhumane welcome.

XxXx~~~xXxX

Cloud peered over the humongous fallen trunk that his group was hiding behind.

If he squinted, he could see the cleverly disguised base. They had already checked to see if there was any surveillance, but there were none, and they weren't even any traps.

He sighed. It was hard on all of them, but they would have to wait for at _least_ a day before they could invade the place, until the other groups were positioned. If they didn't, they would fail.

Closing his eyes and leaning his forehead against the bark, he cursed Hojo in every way he knew how. So much depended on this and it was all that damned maniac's fault.

XxXx~~~xXxX

She regained consciousness in that all-too-damned-familiar room. It was empty, judging by hers being the only breathing in it.

Remembering that the people she had pulled into her own world, the tears welled up again. She had just ruined their live, as well as abandoned them to be subjected to the terrible experiments that would mark the course of their new—and horrid—lives.

More to add to her list of sins.

Her head jerked up as she heard the hiss of the automatic-pressure-locking door. A full day must have passed, then, and they were locking _them_ in the room with her.

After a full day of torturing them.

Three dull thuds, then the hiss again. Oh, God, were they even conscious?

She got up and trotted over to them, as fast as the restrainers on her clothing would allow. She found their heads with her hands, and could feel blood.

She shook her head to clear her tears. Concentrating, she grabbed at her power. Letting it flow through her being, she directed it out of her hands and into three strands, the three people.

She felt her power begin to heal them; replacing blood, mending bruises and cuts, sewing up slashed skin. Then she hesitated. Should she…?

She had to. Otherwise they wouldn't survive.

Wielding her powers once more, she entered their minds—gently, always had to be—and hazed the memories of the scientists' tests. They would know exactly what happened, but it would be like it happened to someone else.

She also made sure they would know that _she_ was the one that messed with their minds, so they wouldn't flip out.

At last she sat back, panting, and buried her face in her hands and cried, trying to keep it soft.

"Who… who are you?"

Her head jerked up, though it was a useless action. "You're awake?"

"We all are…" The same boy's voice. He seemed to be an older teen.

"Oh…" Curse the scientists who made her like this. Damn them.

"Who are you?" he asked again.

"I'm… I'm Dia," she said. "I… I'm so sorry!" She broke, tears pouring down her face. "It's my fault that you are here!"

More to add to her reasons to hate herself.

"Whoa! Uh… don't cry… I'm sure it's not your fault…" another flustered voice joined his, as well as the girl.

"But it is! They used my power! It was my powers that brought you to this world! My powers… my powers that made it so they could experiment on you…"

"Then it's not your fault, it's theirs. They made you do it against your will. Besides… you healed us, didn't you? That was your action." the girl said gently.

"Kairi's right. So don't beat yourself up about it," the other boy said softly.

She roughly wiped her watery eyes on her sleeves. So she'd accidentally planted intuition instead if knowledge. "Alright… but still…"

Dia shook her head. Changed the subject. "Are you all okay now? I tried to heal you the best I could, but I can't tell if it's complete or not."

"We're fine now, physically. Mentally…" the soft-voiced boy trailed off.

She nodded. "I'm sorry that you have to live through this. Did they… did they do much damage?"

"Yeah, I guess…" the other boy said, no doubt remembering the horrible things, even through Dia's hazing. "Hey… why couldn't you tell if you healed us all the way or not? We're right here."

"Shut up, Sora," the other boy growled.

"Riku, don't tell him to shut up. Sora, don't ask stuff like that," Kairi scolded.

"That's fine," Dia whispered. "It's okay to ask me anything, 'cause more than likely you won't get any answers from _them_. To your question…Sora?" she said hesitantly. "The reason for that is because I _can't_ see…" She trailed off, unsure of her voice.

"Oh! Sorry, I didn't mean to ask you something like that, not when—" Sora's apology was cut off. She didn't want to hear it.

"Like I said, it's alright," she repeated. "But _I _have some questions for _you_, because I can't see the answers for myself. Please don't take any of them the wrong way; it's just, I've never… met… others…" She bit her lip. "Umm… before I start… uh… Is it okay… um, will you… let me 'map' your faces?"

Silence.

"Um… sorry, stupid question…" she muttered.

"Not really. You can start with me," Riku said. She heard the rustle of cloth as he moved in front of her.

Reaching up she hesitantly brought her hands to his face and gently 'mapped' out his features. His fine, silky hair kept slipping onto her slender hands. His eyes were closed as she brushed her fingers across them; she could feel long lashes.

By doing this, she could tell that he was a young adult, probably only just turned eighteen.

Done, she pulled her hands back. "How old are you?" she inquired, to be sure.

"Eighteen," he replied shortly. "You?"

At her silence, he asked softly, "Do you even know?"

"No. I don't. Actually, I don't know a lot of things about myself."

"That's horrible!" Kairi exclaimed. "Has it been that way for a long time?"

"As long as I can remember. This place… well, it isn't exactly the ideal place to grow up," Dia said wryly.

"So… what _do_ you know about this place?" Sora inquired, voice puzzled. From the way Riku and Kairi sighed, it seemed like the boy wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed.

Still, she smiled. There just wasn't anything like actually conversing with real people who were in the same situation she was.

Riku slid away and let Kairi take his place. Once she finished "mapping" the girl's face, she "mapped" Sora's. All of them had very defined features, but were gentle.

Strange, for she could tell that they were fighters.


End file.
